Fairhope, Alabama

To continue last night's wind story:  We had to latch the shower and stateroom (bedroom) doors because the boat was rocking so much they were sliding in and out. At the dock!  In spite of the "glad we don't get seasick" comment yesterday, Mary had to stop using the computer and couldn't read, either.  She was okay watching "Happy Days" and Northern Exposure" before we were rocked (if somewhat violently) to sleep.

This is our 4th day here.  The first evening we went to the Fly Creek Cafe with Francine and Wayne for a beer and succumbed to the temptation of fried green beans, as none of us had ever tried them. They were surprisingly good, the beans were tender-crisp under their breading.  The cafe is about 100 yards across the creek from our boat, but 3 miles to walk or drive.  Afterward we, along with Rich and Carol from Salt 'n Sand, enjoyed a delicious spaghetti dinner aboard "My Way".  Francine and Wayne are excellent hosts.  Carol made cheesecake for dessert.

Monday Kathy and Mike visited.  Tuesday we had dinner at Fairhope's Grand Hotel (first built in 1847) with Rich, Carol. Francine, and Wayne.  Once again, Mary's dinner was so pretty we wished we had brought the camera.  The food was good, as was the company.  Wednesday Rich and Carol left to move "Salt 'n Sand" across Mobile Bay, where they will leave her while they drive home to New Jersey.  We hope our paths cross again on the trip.  If not, we'll see them in Cape May, NJ, where they are AGLCA Harbor Hosts.

Wednesday afternoon Wayne, Francine and we were joined by Cindy and Ed on "Ka-Dee-Anna" for a trip to Daphne to see Malbis Memorial Church.  We had last seen Ed and Cindy at Bobby's Fish Camp.  The Greek Orthodox Church is a copy of a Byzantine church in Athens, Greece.  

The mosaics and murals are beautiful and the altar backdrop is a hand-carved white marble wall.  Well worth the drive.

We all drove to Fairhope, after stopping to let the brakes cool part way there.  No warning light on this courtesy car, but.... We again had lunch at Panini Pete's then went our separate ways until it was time to meet at the courtesy van for the trip back to the marina.  We took a nice, brisk walk to the waterfront park.  The marina staff replaced a brake caliper.

At about 3 this morning, the wind switched directions.  From a west wind which pushed water into Fly Creek, we now have a north wind which is pushing the water out of the creek.  The tide we've experienced here has been about 1 foot.  Today the low tide plus the wind have resulted in a drop of about 3 feet.  Our depthfinder showed 1 1/4 feet below the bottom of the boat.  Some boats have NO water:

There was no beach here yesterday:

Compare this picture to yesterday's!  The towel on the seat was a gift from Francine and Wayne.  The exclamation point period is a maple leaf.